 |
I can be reached by e-mail at barnett@ku.edu |
|
|
|
||
| Anthony's Restaurant 701 Grand Kansas City, MO 64106 816-221-4088 |
This
pleasant Italian-American restaurant is very enjoyable for what it
is. But it is not the place to go, if you are looking for upscale
Italian food. The resaurant has a lounge singer on some evenings.
It is located at the corner of 7th and Grand downtown. In that area, you can find more innovative Northern Italian food at Seven (which I have not yet tried) about two blocks away at 6th and Walnut, but of course Seven is more expensive than Anthony's. |
||
Bar Natasha 1911 Main Kansas City, MO 64108 816-472-5300 web site |
This
restaurant and bar features cabaret entertainment. On
weekends, they usually have lounge piano from 7 pm to 9:30 pm, then a
cabaret show until 11:30, and then a different kind of cabaret
show starting at 11:30 pm. If you arrive at around 9:00 pm
for dinner and stay for a few hours, you can see it all. Bar
Natasha is in the Crossroads Art District on the corner of 19th St. and
Main. There two parking lots on the northeast corner of
Main. The first has signs saying the lot is private, but the
second lot appears to be open to the public at no charge. It is best to have reservations. Some of the tables have regular dining chairs and tables. Others are high top tables with bar stools. It is best to state your preference, when you make your reservations. The tables closest to the stage are regular ones. The food is mostly small plates of appetizers, vegetables, and desserts. The fish tacos are popular. Many people prefer to have dinner elsewhere and reserve a table for the show. In that case, it is best to arrive at around 9:15 pm. As a restaurant, this is not a venue for fine dining. But the cabaret shows are first rate. |
||
| Bice Bistro 14 East 14th St. Kansas City, MO 64106 816-569-2310 web site |
Bice
(pronounced "beechay") is part of an international chain of Italian
restaurants that originated about 75 years ago in Milan, Italy.
The Bice chain offers various restaurant styles, including upscale
restaurants and more casual bistros. The Bice in Kansas City, in
the Power & Light district on the corner of 14th and Main, is a
bistro. Sadly it does not meet the standards of the best bistros
in Italy, or the best Italian restaurants in Kansas City. But it
does bring a bit of Italy to Kansas City. For example, they offer
wine by the quartino, and they have minestrone soup done right, without
the beef or chicken stock so often included in the minestrone in
Italian-American restaurants. While they offer pizza, the choices
are Americanized without inclusion of pizza marinara: one of the
two classic pizzas everywhere in Italy. The dining room is
attractive, and I especially like the "corner booth" (table 63).
But on balance, I found Bice in Kansas City to be disappointing.
It is no match for this chain's restaurant in New York City. On
the other hand, the prices are more reasonable at the Kansas City Bice
than at its NY one. |
||
[format (12 or upstairs b
y window)] Blue Bird Bistro 1700 Summit Kansas City, MO (near Crossroads Art District) 816-221-7559 web site |
If
you like healthy food, you will love this restaurant. It started
as a vegetarian restaurant, but has branched out to include many
choices. If you are a vegan, you will find what you want
here. If you want meat, you also will not be disappointed.
Much on the menu is local and organic. If you value such choices,
you will find no other restaurant that can match this one in Kansas
City or Lawrence. The location is a couple of blocks west of the Crossroads art district. But this restaurant appears in many ways to be within that district, which may have extended to the west to include this block. In fact the art displayed in this restaurant is among the best buys in the local art market. If you are looking for art to purchase, you may indeed wish to see what is on display here, both on the first and second floors of this restaurant. Most parking here is on the streets of Summit and 17th St, but there is a parking lot behind the restaurant. You probably will do fine by parking on the street, but if you should wish to try to find the lot, the driveway is from Belleview Ave behind the restaurant (which is on the corner of Summit and 17th St.). While the ingredients available here are really outstanding, this restaurant is missing much that you would expect at a fine dining restaurant. The soup tends not to be adequately warm; if you reserve a particular table, the odds are high that someone already will have the table when you arrive; and if you like sophisticated preparations and a lot of spice, you likely will be disappointed. Of course they will be happy to provide you with bottles of spice, a pepper mill, and whatever else you might wish to add. But you should not expect this restaurant to have a chef comparable to those you would find at some of the city's top restaurants displaying less concerrn for health. Kansas City is not yet in the same league as Berkeley, etc., which can attract its best chefs to its most ethical and healthy dining rooms. But this is the Midwest, and this too will change, so give this bistro a try. It may get better and better as time passes. |
||
| Bristol's Seafood Grill 51 East 14th St. Power and Light District Kansas City, MO 64106 816-448-6007 web site |
See entry for Bristol's in the Johnson County section. This Bristol's is within the Power and Light District on
14th St between Main St. and Walnut. They have a happy hour in
the bar area every night except Saturday night from 4 pm - 6:30 pm,
including big discounts on appetizers and oysters. |
||
| [format (51)] City Tavern 22nd and Baltimore Kansas City, MO (In Crossroads Art District) 816-421-3696 www.citytavern.net |
Next
to Lidia's restaurant in the old Freight House, City Tavern is in
the Crossroads Art District at an excellent location to begin a First
Friday Art walk and an interesting view of Union Station and the
passing trains. City Tavern is a 15 minute walk from Crown Plaza
using an overpass, but rather than walking, it is better to park in the
large parking lot that is directly behind the restaurant. The
restaurant has the appearance of an old time steak and chop house, but
offers far more seafood than the usual steak and chop house. In
fact City Tavern has some of the very best seafood in the Kansas City
area, including wild caught salmon and line caught tuna. While
they offer an interesting choice of sauces and some excellent, high
quality, fresh incredients, the preparations are not especially
upscale. But the reasonable prices reflect the unpretentious
nature of the preparations. The dinng room is beautiful and the
service excellent. The wine list is good and includes some
reasonably priced options along with more expensive ones. I like
this restaurant a lot. While not in the same league as the nearby
American Restaurant in Crown Center, City Tavern is an old time gem of
a restaurant. The restaurant includes an oyster bar and has very fresh oysters. |
||
| Dolce Ultimate Lounge 1520 Grand Blvd. KC, MO 64108 816-216-6180 web |
This
tapas restaurant/nightclub is a mystery. The food is very, very
good. The booths are very, very good. The service is very,
very good. The nightclub atmosphere is very, very good. The
parking situation is --- very, very bad. Clearly the owners are
sophisticated people who have invested heavily in bringing this
exceptional place to KC, but why in that location? Perhaps they
thought this was NY, where people take taxis and public
transportation. Hey, this is Kansas City. Even the
waitpeople say they park on the street; and on street parking in that
area is not a trivial matter. If you are willing to deal with the parking problem and if you are looking for a quiet dinner, then get there when they open at 5 pm and plan on leaving at around 6 pm, when the music volume heads way uphill. I subsequently heard a rumor that the owner had arranged for parking on weekends (Friday and Saturday) evenings at the KC Star lot across the street. So I drove over there and asked the attendant. He told me that he works for the Sprint Center, is usually at that lot starting at about 5 pm on Friday and Saturday evenings, and charges $5 to park. He said that the owner of Dolce paid him for parking for his restaurant/lounge for one night and has not paid since then. So if you use that lot, you will have to pay the $5 fee. There also is a small parking lot right next to Dolce. But the sign at the entrance to the lot mentions a different restaurant and usually is chained. Inside Dolce, I was told by one of the waitpersons that the valet parking in front of the the restaurant parks cars in a lot that is for the Berlau Paper Co on the corner of Walnut and Truman Rd, just around the corner from Dolce, and I was told that I could park there without paying for the valet parking. But when I walked over to it, I saw a very intimidating sign about expensive towing for anyone not working at 1500 Main, and we all have read stories in the KC Star about such towing from lots near the Power and Light District. As far as I can tell, the best parking is still on Grand Blvd south of the restaurant, sometimes blocks away from Dolce in a less than charming neighborhood. I remain mystified by the parking problems for this restaurant/club. |
||
Drum Room Hilton President Hotel 1329 Baltimore St. Kansas City, MO 64105 816-221-9490 restaurant's web site |
|
||
| This
tapas restaurant/bar is new and is a work in progress. It is
owned by Michael Smith, and is next door to and attached to the
restaurant by his name. Extra Virgin
really should be appreciated for what it is offering to Kansas City.
To begin with, tapas in Spain are not a tradition in restaurants.
They are in bars, and the traditional way to have tapas in Spain
is to
have a few at this bar, a few at that bar, etc. Well, Extra
Virgin
indeed is centered around a bar, in the true Spanish tradition.
Indeed, if you decide to have an entire meal there, the price of
the
tapas will add up, and you may be looking at a rather high bill.
But
do not fail to appreciate what Michael Smith is offering here --- tapas
of the very highest quality. The preparations are not exclusively Spanish, but more representative of the Mediterranean in general. I was a bit puzzled by the many preparations with butter instead of olive oil: rather odd for a tapas restaurant with the name "extra virgin." Sorry, but I've never head of "extra virgin" butter. Clearly Michael Smith is not sticking with any one country's style and is producing his own version of a tapas restaurant. If you really want a traditional dining room experience, rather than the tapas bar experience offered in the main dining area, ask to be seated in the private dining room upstairs. If there is no private party there, you might be able to get a table in that room. If you really want to do it the Spanish way, sit at the bar, have a glass of wine or beer and one small tapas plate. Then leave for somewhere else for the rest of your dinner. They will not think that you are cheaping out. On the contrary, they will figure that you are an authentic tapas snob, just arrived from Madrid. I went there this evening, and I was impressed --- very impressed! |
|||
[format (51,oval booth,back room)]
Garozzo's Restorante 526 Harrison Kansas City, MO 64106 816-221-2455 web site |
Garozzo's
is a local chain of four restaurants. This one was the first,
opened by Michael Garozzo in the historic old neighborhood of Columbus
Park in 1989. He was born to a family of restaurant workers in
the famous St. Louis Hill area, where some of the county's best Italian
restaurants have long been located. You can find many Hill
touches of style here, including the servers formally dressed with bow
ties. The restaurant has its own small parking lot diagonally
across the intersection (Missouri and Harrison Sts) from the
restaurant. The restaurant has two small dining rooms and
reasonable prices providing good value. Garozzo's is not in the
same league as first tier Italian restaurants, but as a reasonably
priced Italian-American restaurant, this is a winner. For
example, the grated parmesan cheese is in a shaker on every table,
rather than scraped off of a chunk of cheese by the server, as would be
common in a first tier Italian restaurant. In terms of the salads, the pomodoro Lombardo is as good as any comparable salad you would find on the Hill. To my taste, it more resembles a Siclian style tomato salad than one from Somma Lombardo in northern Italy, but in any case I think it is outstanding. They have excellent jumbo shrimp. Their salmon is fresh, but not comparable to what you would find in one of the city's restaurants that specialize in seafood, such as Bristol's. The tilapia, which is frozen, is nevertheless wonderful, including its alla fresca sauce, which is perfect with tilapia. In addition, the linguine that comes with it is done perfectly with a sauce that complements the tilapia preparatioin. The red clam sauce that comes with the pasta that accompanies the salmon would benefit from more spice and contains more cream or butter than I'd prefer; but to substitute the tilapia preparation, ask for "alla fresca," or for a simpler olive oil preparation, ask for "aglio e olio," which is not on the menu. The parking lot and the the dining rooms start to become crowded at around 5:30 pm. But they open for dinner at 4 pm. It is near many highways that converge on the downtown area. But if you want to avoid highway driving, the easiest route is via the Paseo Blvd (north) to Independence Ave (west) to Harrison (north). Later in the evening on weekends, there often is a long line of people waiting for tables. |
||
|
Hereford House 2 East 20th St. Kansas city (Crossroads Art District) 816-842-1080 |
See listing under West Lawrence. | ||
| [format (13, not 10)] La Bodega 703 Southwest Blvd Kansas City, MO 64108 816-472-8272 web site |
This
Spanish tapas restaurant along Mexican-restaurant-row on Southwest
Blvd. has the most popular happy hour in KC, with half off on tapas,
and discounted drinks. That happy hour is 2 - 6 pm on Monday -
Friday and 2 - 4 pm on Saturday. Even at those off hours,
reservations are a good idea at
LaBodega. For large groups, there are long tables along the back
row. Most of the other tables are for 2 or 4 diners, with the
best of those tables being the round or square tables along the windows. The tapas are excellent here and a match for the tapas in other Spanish restaurants in the US, but somewhat different from tapas in Spain. I was somewhat mystified by the representation of the history of tapas at the top of the menu. While the description is accurate in saying that the origins are in the north of Spain, few people in Madrid accustomed to bar hopping (Spanish: Ir de tapas) to tapas bars would agree that tapas are primarily Basque, as stated on the menu here. In fact in Basque country, the word tapas is not even used. Their equivalent is called pintxos in Basque, where they have a toothpick (pincho) through them, unlike most tapas in Madrid. The quality and preparation of scallops here is outstanding --- not the usual Midwestern rubber scallops. If you do not like the preparation of the scallop tapas (wrapped in ham), you can request a modification, such as an extra scallop for omitting the ham. If you would prefer a regular entree instead of tapas, the atun a la plancha (sesame seed encrusted ahi tuna) is excellent. In most restaurants in the Midwest, I request tuna to be cooked medium. But the tuna here is sushi grade, so medium rare is preferable. The entree's are large, so do not make the mistake of ordering by tapas and an entree, unless you are planning on takeout food for lunch the next day. The Spanish coffee is very popular here as a dessert drink, and provides somewhat of a show, when the server ignites it. But my preference is the carajillo (espresso with Spanish brandy). This restaurant has an admirable list of moderately priced wines by the glass, and the selection is so good that I have no clear preferences among the moderately prices wines. All are very good and excellent buys (especially during happy hour). I did have one complaint about La Bodega last summer. On hot days, they tended to run the fans on the ceilings, while setting the airconditioning at a somewhat uncomfortably high temperature. Was the idea to mimic the south of Spain, where the temperature can be very high and energy prices much higher than in the US? Perhaps they have not been to Spain lately. With the strong euro and the prosperous EU, the days of feeble airconditioning in Europe's good restaurants are in the past. Following posting of the above "complaint" about the air conditioning, I received the following very encouraging email message from La Bodega: "It has been a challenge for us this summer, and is in the process of being corrected. The unit we thought we had fixed finally burned out it's compressor - obviously on our busiest weekend. The unit is in the process of being replaced. We hope that this will solve our issues." I hope so too. In fact, I've been back once since that unpleasant experience, and the air conditioning was working fine. So (hopefully) that problem has been solved. |
||
Le Fou Frog 400 E. Fifth St. In the River Market 816-474-6060 Its web site |
I
would surely be a regular at this restaurant, if it were in
Lawrence. Unfortunately it is in one of my less favorite
locations (two blocks from the River Market in Downtown, Kansas
City). The location does have the advantage of its own
parking lot. But I tend to view the River Market to be a rather
sad imitation of the Laclede's Landing/Soulard area of St. Louis.
The River Market location is not a plus, relative to the much nicer downtown in Lawrence or the Country Club Plaza in Kansas City.. Of course this has nothing to do with the quality of the restaurant. The restaurant has live jazz on Sunday starting at 6:30 pm, a very reasonable wine list, and efficient waitpersons. The service does not fit the image of service at the best restaurants, but one would not expect such upscale service demeanor at a restaurant that is so unpretentious and reasonable. We very much enjoyed everything we ordered at Le Fou Frog. Clearly this restaurant's chef is "the real thing." The chef evidently is from Marseille. I recognize the style. Unlike Café Provence, which oddly does not serve the style of Provence, Le Fou Frog (which means "The Crazy Frenchman") does include that style on its menu. I especially like the Mediterranean style of preparation from the South of France. In fact, perhaps my most memorable dinner was at a restaurant in Marseille many years ago, in a restaurant which I believe no longer exists. It was on the inner harbor and was called The New York. It was known throughout France to have the best bouillabaisse in the world. The New York could afford a great chef, since the clientele included some of the wealthiest residents of Marseille. At the time, I was working at the Federal Reserve Board in Washington, DC. When I returned to Washington, a friend at the French embassy explained to me why that restaurant's customers were so well off; and I assume I now know why that restaurant no longer exists. The former customers, who were regulars at The New York, can no longer afford those marvelous meals from their current, rather modest, accommodations--- in prison. They were "The French Connection." |
||
| Lulu's Thai Noodle Shop and Satay Bar 333 Southwest Blvd Kansas City, MO 64108 816-474-8424 web site |
This Thai restaurant is on Southwest Blvd
just north of Broadway at the start of the Crossroads Arts
District. There is a parking lot behind the restaurant. You
can get to it from just north of the restaurant on Southwest Blvd by
driving through a different parking lot that you cannot use for that
restaurant. Make sure to continue to behind Lulu's, where you can
park, so you will not be towed. This restaurant has many interesting choices, but all the sauces and soups are already made, so you will not be able to make changes to the sauces or soups. For example, the tom yum shrimp soup contains more sugar than I'd prefer, but they cannot change that. This is unfortunate, since it is made with shrimp stock as would usually be best. The satay appetizers may not be what you might expect. You will not necessarily get a skewer with small pieces on it. You might instead get a chunk of something. The mushroom satay is especially good here. They have bean thread noodles, which I especially like, and they have brown rice, if you prefer. The salmon is of better quality than I had anticipated, but the preparation of the salmon entree is not one that I'd order again. Basically is it ordinary grilled salmon on a pile of plain cooked vegetables and rice. The unpadded wooden benches are not especially comfortable, but there are other chairs with cushions on them. In short, this is not among my favorite Thai restaurants. But there are many choices on the menu, so if you really work at it, you are likely to find things you will like. |
||
| This
trendy restauarnt is in the Crossroad Art District near 19th St. and
Main. There is a small parking lot directly south of the
restaurant on Main. There is no a la carte menu. They have
a fixed price 3-course menu. You can choose from one appetizer,
one entree, and one restaurant. But if you do not want a dessert,
you can choose two appetizers and one entree (a good idea). Among
the desserts is a cheese plate, which contains too little cheese to be
credible. Most of the choices include meat, even if they
otherwise seem to be seafood or vegetarian, but this restaurant is
happy to make necessary changes to accommodate your preferences. The restaurant has two dining rooms, both very attractive. My preference is the back room (the wine room). They offer wine matching, but I am particulary impressed by the wine list, which includes some reasonably priced good wine bottles. At upscale restaurant of this sort, it can be difficult to find any reasonably priced bottles, but this restaurant is an exception to that rule. I especially appreciate that fact. While this restaurant is not among the very best in Kansas City, it provide an exceptionally good buy for an upscale dinner. I like this restaurant a lot. |
|||
| Sadly
the wonderful 40 Sardines restaurant in Johnson County has
closed. But its excellent chef, Michael Smith, has opened a new
restaurant, as both chef and owner, using his own name as the name of
the restaurant. The new restaurant does not disappoint. As
with his previous restaurant, what Michael Smith provides is fine
dining at moderate prices. There are the minor glitches that one
would expect at a restaurant that does not charge high end
prices; but in terms of value per dollar, this restaurant is a
winner. Soon this chef plans to open another restaurant next door
to this one. That second restaurant is to be called Extra Virgin
and is expected to provide Spanish tapas style dining. The location is in the Crossroads Art District, and this restaurant has free parking after 5:30 pm in the Michael's menswear store parking lot across the street on 19th St. |
|||
Lidia's
101 W 22nd St. 816-221-3722 (In Crossroads Art District) www.360kc.com/Restaurants/Lidias.html |
|
||
Nara
16th and Mai 1617 Main Street Kansas City, MO 64108 816-221-6272 information@narakc.com web site |
The most interesting
preparations at this restaurant are the Robata grill choices. "Robata"
means "by the fireside" in Japanse and is the old style of nothern
Japanese fisherman, who grilled over an open fire on skewers. That
style is best known in this country from the Benihana chain.
With no Benihana restaurants in Kansas City, Nara has the distinction
of being the only Japanese restaurant in Kansas City offering robata
grilled dishes. At Nara, the head chef, Koji Sakata, is the son
of one of the original chefs at Benihana in Los Angeles, and it shows. They also offer sushi and other Japanese styles. As a rather trendy (and noisy) restaurant offering more diverse choices than other Japanese restaurants in Kansas City, this restaurant has been getting a lot of hype. But don't expect Japanese food comparable to that in the best Japanese restaurants of New York City or Los Angeles (e.g., those run by Nobu Matsuhisa), and certaintly not comparable to the best in Nara, Japan (the country's historic capital from 710 to 784). In fact this restaurant's sushi is not a match for that at the wonderful Cafe Beautiful in nearby Lawrence. But the sushi can be surprisingly good at Nara, if you order the sushi chef's special of the day. There was a roll listed as the special of the day from the sushi chef, the last time I was there, and it was really outstanding. This restaurant, locally owned by Casey Adams, has two parking lots, one right next door to it on Main, along the north side of the building, and a larger lot behind the restaurant with access from 16th St. The availability of free parking at this downtown location is a plus. But the spaces listed as being for Nara fill rapidly and will likely be gone, if you arrive late in the evening. It probably is safe to park in spaces markes as being for businesses in the evening, when they are closed, unless they are listed as being reserved for 24 hrs/day. If you arrive early for dinner, you likely will have no difficulty parking in a space specifically reserved for Nara. The most confortable seating in the restuarant is in the booths, but there are only four. Don't expect to be able to get a booth, unless you have reserved one in advance. |
||
Raglan Road Irish Pub 170 E 14th Street Power and Light District 816-994-9700 web site |
This
Irish Pub has two entrances. Each enters a different dining room,
with one dining room being much larger than the other and having a
stage for live music. The menu is the same in both, but I like
the large dining room better. While this is a pub and not an upscale restaurant, the best pubs in Ireland have better food and better environment than most pubs in the US. This restaurant's pub food does not disappoint. I had both the steamed mussels and the smoked salmon, each of which can easily disappoint, if not fresh and prepared well. At Raglan Road, the mussels and smoked salmon were excellent, both in quality and presentation. I'll want to return to try the entrees next time. |
||
816-842-3890 A web site | This
old fashioned restaurant, the oldest in Kansas City, is in the historic
Hotel Savoy. The menu has hardly changed in decades, and the
renovation of the hotel is incomplete. Nevertheless, this hotel
and restaurant are historic and well worth a visit. One of the
booths in the restaurant was favored by Harry Truman, and the hotel has
posted a letter from him in the lobby. The letter, written long
before he became President, is an application for a job at the hotel as
a desk clerk. Although we were less than pleased with the food in
the restaurant, we did find that dinner to be an interesting
experience. We also stayed for a night in the hotel. If you
are a history buff, you may also find that stay to be interesting, but
be aware that some of the hotel is still in poor condition. The
breakfast in the Savoy Grill for hotel guests is a high point of any
stay at that hotel, and will make up for any disappointments with the
dated dinner menu. The hotel, built in 1888, was remodeled in
1903 and 1985, but still needs work. Both the hotel and the
restaurant are entered in the National Register of Historic Places. | ||
| <code=32> Seven 613 Walnut 816-777-1107 web site |
This
northern Italian style restaurant is excellent and has very
sophisticated service. The chef, from Philadelphia, brings an
east coast style to Kansas City, and the decor of the dining room is
striking. Later in the evening, they remove some of the tables,
and Seven becomes a nightclub with dancing. They have a large
parking lot directly across the street on Walnut. If you will be
at an event at the Sprint Center, you can park here for free, have
dinner at Seven, and use their van to get to and from the Sprint
Center. Seven is located on Walnut just south of 6th St. (which is just south of I70). You can get to and from the restaurant on I70, but you might want to use local streets. If so, be aware of the fact that Walnut is one way heading north, so you can get to the restaurant from the Power and Light District on Walnut., but you cannot return to the Power and Light District on Walnut. The restaurant is on the right (east) side of the street and its parking lot on the left side. When departing, you will have to continue north on Walnut. Shortly after crossing the I70 bridge, you will be at the RiverMarket. Make a left there onto 5th St (which is at the entrance to the River Market). Then make the second left from 5th Street onto Main to head south back to the Power and Light District. Alternatively, when you continue north on Walnut, you could make an immediate right onto 6th St, which is one-way to the right, and then an immediate right onto Grand,which you could take south back to the Power and Light District. |
||
| Tengo sed Cantina 1330 Grand Boulevard and 1323 Walnut Power and Light District Kansas City, MO 64105 816-442-8124 web site |
This Mexican restaurant in the Power and Light District downtown has an outstanding specialty appetizer: crab and tempura avocado wraps (wrapped in butterhead lettuce). An entrance is directly from the KC Live Stage area of the Power and Light District. | ||
| <code=51> Vinino Power and Light District 1320 Grand Blvd. Kansas City, MO 64105 816-221-8466 web site |
This beautiful wine bar has a limited menu and an unbeatable location in the Power and Light District.
The front entranct of Vinino's is on Grand facing the Sprint Center and
the back faces the outdoor KC Live Stage area. Vinino's recently
received a negative review from the restaurant critic of the Kansas City Starnewspaper.
Indeed this is not a fine dining restaurant, but can be a pleasant
place for a dinner, if you are in the Power and Light District for a
show. The nature of the background music is not chosen to attract
a sophisticated crowd. The best seating is at one of the two booths. I prefer the smaller booth, which is table number 51. For a larger group, request the larger booth, which is table number 50. |
||
| Vivace 529 Walnut St. Kansas City, MO 816-527-0999 web site |
The
best restaurant in the River Market area of Downtown is Le Fou
Frog---by a rather large margin. The second best is
Vivace. But the two are not directly comparable, since
their styles are very different. There is no place else quite
like Vivace in the Kansas City area. In particular, Vivace's "ice
bar" is reputedly the "coolest place in town." Le Fou Frog's
continental style leans towards France (via the Côte d'Azur), while
Vivace's leans more towards Italy (via Las Vegas). |
||
| <code=24> Webster House 1644 Wyandotte Kansas City, MO 64108 816-221-4713 web |
This
beautiful restaurant, in the Crossroads Art District, is in a building
that was a school house over 100 years ago. Now the building is
elegant in every way. Clearly a serious architect outdid himself
in redesigning the interior. Until recently the Webster House was
known mostly for its antiques sales and its lunches, prepared by a fine
chef. Now they have begun serving dinners. In fact it is
surprising that they were able to retain such a serious chef for
so long to serve only lunches. I especially like his scallops
preparations. Among the "small plates," the sweet potato and crab hash is wonderful. The restaurant has three dining rooms, all on the second level of the building: a room for private events, the main dining room, and the bar/lounge. All are elegant, but my preference is to dine in the bar/lounge area. The service is excellent, but somewhat amateurish. For example, my waiter, who otherwise provided outstanding service, picked up the wine glass, turned it sideways, and poured the wine down the side of the glass, as if beer. Of course the proper etiquette is to leave the glass on the table and pour the wine into it without lifting the glass. Also when we were seated, he asked us: "how are we doing today." We? The wine list is good, but priced with markups comparable to those at well established, first rate restaurants. This is a mistake for a restaurant just starting to serve dinners. As a new dinner venture, all of the wine bottles are overpriced by about 25%. This would be easier to understand, if they also offered a moderately priced house wine, but they have no house wine. In contrast, all of the food on the menu is priced just right. The restaurant has its own parking lot directly across the street on Wyandotte. Although it often is crowded, there also are two other nearby lots on 17th St. |
|
I can be reached by e-mail at barnett@ku.edu |
